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07-07-2016, 13:44
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The debate about children in pubs (like sparklers, BrewDog, finings, &c.) only seems to get gristlier*the more it’s chewed and so we’re staying out of it. Having said that…When we thought aloud on Twitter last night (https://twitter.com/BoakandBailey/status/750776551059390464) suggesting there ought to be a guide to child-friendly pubs, we were reacting specifically to this Tweet…

Speaking of Britain, still looking for kid-friendly pub/brewery suggestions for Liverpool, Chester & Manchester. Send them on!
— Lisa Grimm (@lisagrimm) July 6, 2016 (https://twitter.com/lisagrimm/status/750730251823644672)

We’ve seen variants on this question a good few times over the years from people on holiday in other countries, or other parts of this country. We’re not qualified to write a guide ourselves — we don’t have kids and, thinking about it, most of our favourite pubs aren’t terribly family friendly — but our general observation would be that small and/or historic pubs in city centres are a dead loss; chains tend to be more child-friendly; and pubs in the country or suburbs are usually a good bet. So, in summary, if you’ve got kids, get on a bus, train or tram and ride a few stops.

* * *There is also*this bit of historical info which we offer with perhaps a touch of mischief in mind: the idea that children shouldn’t be allowed in pubs only really arose at the end of the 19th century and was championed by… temperance campaigners. The author G.K. Chesterton wrote a series of snarky*anti-temperance columns for the*Illustrated London News in the Edwardian era; here’s a bit from 23 April 1910:
Take, for the sake of argument, the clause recently introduced by the Lords into the Children’s Act, by which no child is allowed into any inn or hostelry. I will not stop to argue about this; it is enough to say it was founded on the great primary temperance principle that everything about public-houses should be settled by the people who have never been inside them. It thus involved the absurd notion… that a public-house is a peculiarly secret sort of private house where awful things occur of which no whisper can reach the street. These people talk about a tavern as if it were some sort of sacred enclosure within which devils were worshipped… It never seems to occur to them that a public-house is very like a public street, because it is public. If an inn-parlour is quiet and kindly, it is because the village outside is quiet and kindly. If a public bar is squalid and noisy, it is because the street outside is squalid and noisy…
He goes on to conclude that if we stop children going into pubs, it’ll be bookshops next, then butchers’ shops, then the street, until we have them safely locked up in the coal cellar. So, if you fear*creeping prohibition, it is your moral duty to lobby for more kids in pubs
PS. Tandleman —*‘gawd bless ‘im’? — has a post prompted by the same Twitter discussion (http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/children-in-pubs.html).
Children in Pubs: Tangents (http://boakandbailey.com/2016/07/children-pubs-tangents/) from Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Beer blogging since 2007, covering real ale, craft beer, pubs and British beer history. (http://boakandbailey.com)


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